A Look at the Jets’ and Giants’ Playoff Odds — and What Is on the Line This Week

As of this very moment, the Jets have a 45.4 percent of making the playoffs. (Or a 45.6 percent chance, or a 37.93 percent chance, depending on the site you choose to trust.) The Giants, meanwhile, have 26.6 percent chance of getting in. (Or a 16.9 percent chance, or a 35.204 percent chance, depending, again, on the site.) We'll note a couple things here: Considering how much those numbers vary, it's probably wise not to read too much into these projections and/or bet all your worldly possessions based on any of them. But we'd also like to point out that none of those numbers is over 50 percent, and that's rather depressing. At least we know one of these teams will have something to cheer about this week, and over on the Times' football blog today, Brian Burke of Advanced NFL Stats explains, mathematically, what's on the line this Sunday: If the Jets win, he puts their playoff odds at 60 percent, whereas if they lose, he puts them at just 20 percent. The swing is even more dramatic for the Giants: A win gives them a 59 percent chance of getting in, whereas a loss means they'd have just a 7 percent chance as of the end of their 1 p.m. game. [Fifth Down/NYT]